Don Bivens on Civil Rights

Full marriage equality is fundamental fairness for gays

Bivens says he will make marriage equality an issue in the upcoming campaign: "I'm in favor of full marriage equality. I think it's an issue we need to talk about. As a civil institution, marriage should be equal for everybody. It's a matter, frankly, of
fundamental fairness," Bivens said. "We can't have laws of any kind that treat people separately when they actually are the same."

As an attorney, Bivens said his stand on marriage equality is motivated by his legal career's goal of "righting social
injustice." Bivens said that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman, should be repealed. "I have serious doubts about the constitutionality of
DOMA," he said. "There's also work to be done on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which should include protections for gender identity," Bivens said.